Working with good people doing good things
Our Mahi
Impact-Led Consulting. Proven Expertise.
Oyster Workshop is a Pacific wāhine-led consulting practice delivering rigorous, culturally grounded work across the NGO, public, and private sectors. We bring commercial rigour and a deep commitment to the communities we serve. In 2024, we were honoured to receive the inaugural Judith van Unen Practitioner Award for excellence in business advisory services to Māori and Pacific SMEs. We are a certified B Corporation, meeting independently verified standards of social and environmental accountability.
Our Clients
Our
Thinking
Our objective is to facilitate the creation of an economy of meaning that supports our shared origins and future. Our mission is to help our people re-imagine, create and realise a future that has previously been aspirational.
We work where complexity is highest. In economic development, we have supported over 260 Māori and Pacific enterprises to build commercial capability and access markets. This work is grounded in relational economic development that holds Māori and Pacific economic self-determination and intergenerational equity at its heart. Our reputation rests on the rigour of our analysis, the quality of our delivery, and our ability to work alongside clients as trusted partners.
Our Team
Our principals have led organisations at CEO level, negotiated government agreements, held in-house legal counsel roles, and served on boards. We bring technical depth across strategy, policy development, research and evaluation, programme design, procurement systems, governance advisory, commercial and regulatory advice, risk strategy, restructuring, and stakeholder relations. Our relational methodology has been academically evaluated for its effectiveness in building trust, market confidence, and commercial capability.
We also have access to a broader network of experts, leaders and influencers who support our kaupapa. Our wider expert network extends throughout Aotearoa and beyond and can be called upon for highly specialised support whenever it's needed.
Sarah Rennie
Principal & Director
Sarah is our expert generalist with a pragmatic approach grown from over 20 years of commercial expertise. She continues to work in governance, consulting and advisory roles. Sarah focuses time to Pacific communities, the philanthropic sector and supporting the delivery of new business models and systems.
Kim Tuaine
Principal & Director
Kim's commercial expertise and business acumen combined with her legal background has led to her reputation for delivering results. She is a strong supporter of start-ups, harnessing diversity and developing innovative business models. Kim has expertise in international investment, negotiation and advocacy across a range of sectors.
Hannah Teipo
Project Manager
Hannah is an Indo-Cook Island artist and content agency director based in Auckland. A Bachelor of Musical Arts graduate, Hannah brings a wealth of experience in project management, start up business and events to the Oyster team.
Jazmin Cole
Project Coordinator
Jazmin is a graduate from M.I.T. with a Dip. in NZ Business and Management and a Bachelors in Applied Social Work (Te Torino). She brings a wealth of experience in relationship building, sales, marketing, web design and development and has a passion for supporting the advancement of Pasifika and Māori communities.
Ana Taranaki
Project Coordinator
Ana is a graduate of the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce in Film, Television and Media Studies, Marketing and Supply Chain Management. She is also a passionate entrepreneur and an award winning innovator and recently founded her second start-up.
Jordan Taka-Smith
Social Media & Marketing Activator
Jordy is responsible for Oyster Workshop and Oyster & Moon's online content and identity. Jordy brings a passion for authentic story-telling and indigenous representation and visibility to her content.
Luc Shorter
Head of Strategic Projects
Luc is a strategy and change professional with a diverse career spanning software development, tertiary education, central government and non-profit sectors.
He is passionate about community development. His interest was initially sparked during his time as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Auckland University of Technology.
Luc's background with complex stakeholder engagement and passion for community development means that he is well placed take over leading the project from Kim during the next phase of the MABx programme. Luc will be joining us on island with MPI in November.
Dr Sandy Harman
Collaborator
Of Fijian, Tongan, Chinese and English descent. Sandy specialises in providing intercultural advice/support and navigating complex community contexts. She has worked closely with a range of organisations in Tāmaki Makaurau, while also influencing learning and development, cultural strategy implementation, and systems change - with a focus on Pasifika communities and allyship to tangata whenua. Sandy is committed to deepening opportunities for cultural exchange and working towards a more equitable Aotearoa.
Ben Rennie
Collaborator
Ben is a tech professional specialising in product and project management, business analysis and quality assurance. He loves the journey of discovery, design and innovation while navigating and transforming complexity into simple, valuable solutions. He’s experienced in tech and business delivery using lean and agile methodologies.
Creative Sector
We are part of a movement to reframe the story of Aotearoa to reveal the interconnectivity of our environment, mana whenua, creative identity and activity and highlight the unique offering our creative sector has locally and globally. Oyster Workshop possesses a significant body of work in commercial capability building, programme design, development and delivery specialising in commercial essentials and internationalisation for Polynesian creatives which includes cultural sector creative offerings.
Our work in the creative sector has been refined over the past 4years and has been tested, scaled and independently evaluated by a Pacific academic team from the University of Auckland. Oyster Workshop's work has also been informed by their considerable research on the creative sector in Aotearoa and internationally.
We have worked with some amazing creative talent, who we continue to champion and support.
Our
Ecosystem
Oyster Workshop is part of an interconnected ecosystem. Oyster & Moon is the commercial marketplace connecting Māori and Pacific makers to premium markets, with profits flowing back to community enterprise. The Oyster Foundation is the charitable core housing our relational mentoring model and free programmes. Together, these entities form a single, self-sustaining system.
Oyster Workshop sustains. Oyster & Moon connects. The Oyster Foundation grows.
Let's
Connect
When you work with Oyster Workshop, you work with a team that brings executive-level expertise, sector-specific knowledge, and a proven methodology for creating lasting impact.